UN Warns Jonathan On Amnesty To Boko Haram

Nigeria has been living beneath treacherous movements and unpalatable lives since so called the group Boko Haram who are Islamic militants showcased the act of killing and bombing without any sign of abating or remedy to be detected. The risk of the incident has made some prominent and the masses Nigerians to say that the Federal Government of Nigeria should negotiate with Boko Haram who wasting the lives of people in the Northern part of Nigeria, and promising to put more attacks to other states within the country. This decision might not go well with the Nigeria’s leaders as this opinion was shunned for sometimes. But now, the Federal Government of Nigeria might have belittle their pride and the power behind their leadership by opening negotiations with the Boko Haram group, there are symptoms that this decision has not gone down well with the international community. This shows as the government reassured Nigerians that the country is still a strategic partner of the United States.

There was a reports credited to the US Ambassador, Terence McCulley, in between the week, had suggested his country was retreating military backing to Nigeria because of diverse human rights violations by security forces, particularly the military emphasized killing and devastation in Baga, Borno State, amidst a conflict with members of the Boko Haram. The US supports the Nigerian military and security agencies with training, intelligence and weapon.

There was a report Friday that the United Nations categorically dismissed Federal Government’s agendas to give amnesty to members of the group, who the body said have been partaken in the grave of human rights violations. Now some Nigerians who are living in the USA are also antagonizing the act of amnesty, saying the group is at war with Nigeria.

There was a statement in Geneva, at the weekend, that the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN-OHCHR, said while embracing the imperative step the country undertook by establishing a Committee “to open talks with Boko Haram and work out modalities for an amnesty and compensation for victims,” the UN still wants perpetrators of stern violations of peoples fundamental rights to be punished.

According to the statement made on Friday, the UN-OHCHR urged the “Nigerian authorities to make sure that perpetrators of serious human rights violations, including Boko Haram elements and members of the security forces, were held accountable and that amnesties were not granted to anyone responsible for very serious human rights violations.”

Diplomatic sources explained that the UN’s rejection of amnesty to the group and Nigerian security officials and soldiers is not unanticipated.

It would be recalled that already, the UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) had announced last November, “there is a reasonable basis to believe that since July 2009, Boko Haram has committed acts constituting crimes against humanity,” including murder and persecution, according to the Court Prosecutor’s report in 2012.